9 Local Female led businesses receive funding to launch their innovative projects 

WHAT:  

• $238,5000 in grant funding to 9 Local Female Led Businesses to launch their innovative projects in 2024 

• The Canberra Innovation Network’s Female Founder program kicks off 2025 with the annual Female Founders tradeshow 

OPPORTUNITY:  

• Interviews: 

• Grant recipients and participants in the Female Founders tradeshow are available for interviews outlining their projects and what the program and funding will help them achieve. CBRIN media contacts will connect grant recipients to media if there is interest. 

• Sharyn Smith COO of CBRIN and Female Founder program lead to talk about the benefits of the Female Founder program, how CBRIN is supporting and how female led businesses contribute to the diversity of Canberra 

• Innovation Connect Program Manager Hayley Maddox of CBRIN to talk about the grant program and how this funding is supporting innovative projects that have the potential to make people’s lives better.  

• Petr Adámek CEO of CBRIN to talk about why Canberra is the best city in Australia for starting and scaling up businesses. 

 

• Photo and vision opportunities: 

• Photos of the companies, event and the CBRIN ScaleUp Hub will be made available. 

Contact:  

Ben Garrett, CBRIN Marketing & Communications 

0490 412 289 

ben.garrett@cbrin.com.au 

 

About the Female Founders program: 

The Female Founders bi monthly events, consistently focus on getting more women into entrepreneurship, innovation and STEM and on creating an environment where everyone is welcome to join, learn, connect, experiment and grow. CBRIN profiles women in innovation on the CBRIN blog and through newsletters and other media channels. With so many amazing women led (not only innovation) companies in the ecosystem we encourage you to get to know them, invest in them, buy from them or connect them to customers, investors and resources they need to succeed.  

About the Innovation Connect grant program: 

In partnership with the ACT Government, the Canberra Innovation Network delivers Innovation Connect Grant Program (ICON) to provide early-stage businesses an opportunity to receive matched funding between $10,000-$30,000 to support the market testing, prototyping, patenting and commercial feasibility of the recipient’s concept. 

Through the ICON program, matched grant funds of up to $30,000 have been awarded to seventeen Canberra innovators in 2024 to make their ideas become a reality. The funded projects represent a broad spectrum of innovative advancements across various industries, promising significant impacts and improved efficiencies. 

The next round of the Innovation Connect Grants is open for expressions of interest. 

About CBRIN:  

The Canberra Innovation Network (CBRIN) is a not-for-profit innovation network founded in 2014 to diversify the ACT economy and drive business growth in Canberra.  

CBRIN’s core mission is to empower entrepreneurs to make a significant social and economic impact, thereby strengthening the region and turbocharging the development of products and services with the potential to transform industries.